Leaving out the part where she had threatened Liu Yufen with a knife, Li Wanqing recounted everything that had happened that morning exactly as it was.
She didn’t even need to exaggerate anything.
The people present looked at Liu Yufen with even more contempt.
Cheng Nuo was only a little over a year old. Even if Liu Yufen really didn’t like the child, she couldn’t just stand by and watch her die!
Liu Yufen’s eyes darted around, her face filled with guilt.
“That still doesn’t mean she could just snatch the money! I’m her mother-in-law.”
……
Well, that was true too. After all, filial piety was considered more important than anything else!
Li Wanqing put on a sorrowful expression, her voice choked with emotion.
“Captain, the child had such a high fever that she was delirious. What else could I have done in that situation?”
“Doctor Meng said that if we had been even a little later, the child could have suffered brain damage from the fever. She might even have died.”
Cheng Anju hadn’t expected Liu Yufen to be so ruthless.
Being ruthless was one thing, but she hadn’t even discussed the matter with him!
Now that things had gotten this far, he had no choice but to step in and smooth things over.
“Third daughter-in-law, your mother-in-law was indeed in the wrong this time. But she is still your elder, and you weren’t entirely in the right either.”
“How about this? You don’t have to return the money you took. Let’s just consider the matter settled!”
“Old man!”
Liu Yufen could hardly believe those words had come from her husband!
That shameless woman had clearly gone crazy, yet she hadn’t suffered any consequences.
Instead, she, the mother-in-law who had been threatened, had not only lost face but also wouldn’t get her money back!
Cheng Anju shot her a stern look.
“That’s final. No one is allowed to bring this up again!”
Otherwise, they would truly break the third daughter-in-law’s heart. If that happened, the third son might also become estranged from the family.
“So, Father, what you’re saying is that I’m still the one in the wrong?” Li Wanqing gave a bitter smile. “But that money clearly includes the share belonging to our branch of the family.”
The moment she finished speaking, Liu Yufen jumped in again. She pointed at Li Wanqing’s nose and started cursing.
“Look at you! You’re a toad wearing flowers—dream on!”
“All that money was saved through my own frugality! Don’t even think about getting a single penny of it!”
“Everyone, come and take a good look! This is what this shameless woman is really like!”
The more Liu Yufen spoke, the more agitated she became, and the uglier her words grew.
The Cheng family members remained silent, allowing Liu Yufen to make a scene.
Some of the cadres from the brigade office tried to persuade her to calm down, only to be accused by Liu Yufen of taking sides.
Gao Chunmei was the women’s director, and mediating conflicts between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law was part of her job.
But after being humiliated earlier, she now pretended not to hear anything.
The others either stood by and watched the spectacle, thinking it had nothing to do with them, or joined Liu Yufen in attacking Li Wanqing.
Only He Mei stood up to argue on Li Wanqing’s behalf.
But how could an unmarried young girl possibly win an argument against a whole group of shameless old women?
Li Wanqing grabbed a stool and smashed it onto the ground right at Liu Yufen’s feet.
The stool shattered into pieces of wood.
Everyone was so frightened that they immediately fell silent!
Liu Yufen was even more terrified, her lips trembling.
“Are you finished? Now it’s my turn to speak!”
Li Wanqing’s face was cold as she spoke.
Liu Yufen opened and closed her mouth hesitantly, but when she saw the fierce look in Li Wanqing’s eyes, she didn’t dare say another word.
This shameless woman had completely lost her mind now. Who knew what she might do?
Zhang Jianguo cleared his throat and reminded her, “Educated Youth Li… you’ll have to compensate for the damaged public property.”
Li Wanqing: “……You really know how to ruin the mood.”
Li Wanqing agreed to pay for the damaged stool before turning her attention to Liu Yufen.
“You said all the Cheng family’s money was saved through your own frugality?”
“That’s right!”
Liu Yufen was quite proud of herself. There wasn’t another woman in the entire Renxing Brigade who was as good at saving money as she was.
Li Wanqing raised an eyebrow and deliberately adopted an almost admiring tone.
“Then how many years did it take you to save it?”
At those words, Cheng Anju immediately became alert.
Unfortunately, Liu Yufen was feeling too pleased with herself. She immediately held up two fingers.
“Only about two years!”
In the years before that, her third son had only sent twenty yuan home every month. But over the past two years, that brat had suddenly become filial.
He had been sending back a whopping 101 yuan every month!
Who knew how much money he had secretly kept for himself before?
It could be said that nine-tenths of the money in her little private stash had come from her third son over the past two years.
The corners of Li Wanqing’s lips curled upward.
“Then Mother, you really are an excellent housekeeper. You managed to save nearly 3,000 yuan in just two years.”
The moment she said this, Liu Yufen became even more pleased with herself.
Of course!
Who in the entire brigade could compare with her?
But after a while, she began to sense that something was wrong.
The people around her were looking at her with increasingly suspicious and probing expressions.
“You shameless wretch! You set a trap for me!”
Liu Yufen was so furious that she wanted to hit Li Wanqing, but the people from the brigade office quickly restrained her.
Even her husband didn’t know how much money she had.
Yet this shameless woman had just exposed it in front of everyone!
Now, whether it was her husband, her eldest son, or her eldest daughter-in-law, all of them were looking at her with suspicion and displeasure.
What kind of sin had she committed to deserve this?
This shameless woman had been born specifically to bring trouble to her!
“Even if I have money, it’s still mine! It has nothing to do with you!”
Li Wanqing glanced at Cheng Zhenxing and Zhao Chunhua.
“I think as long as someone is a member of the Cheng family, they should have a say in it, right? Big Brother, Sister-in-law, don’t you agree?”
Cheng Zhenxing wore a stern expression.
He was the only person in the entire family with a formal job, so naturally, most of the family’s money had been earned by him.
Yet his mother had secretly saved up money without even telling him!
He was extremely unhappy about that.
“Mom, my sister-in-law is right. We’re all family. How could it have nothing to do with us?”
“Exactly, Mother. Don’t forget, Zhenxing is the only one in this family with a salary.”
Zhao Chunhua quickly chimed in.
Her mother-in-law was usually stingy. Whenever she asked her for money, she would only give her five or ten yuan at most.
Who would have thought that she had secretly saved up so much money?
Who exactly had she been guarding against?
“What are you two joining in for? Your mother said the money is hers, so it’s hers!”
Cheng Anju glared at his eldest son and daughter-in-law.
What a pair of idiots!
It was obvious that the third daughter-in-law was after the money!
Yet these two idiots were actually volunteering to become her weapons!
He, Cheng Anju, had been clever his entire life. How had he ended up raising such foolish children?
“We’re all members of the Cheng family. Whoever owns the money should be decided according to everyone’s contributions.”
Zhao Chunhua looked dissatisfied.
Normally, she would never dare talk back to her father-in-law.
But this was nearly 3,000 yuan!
Her younger brother was about to get married, and the bride’s family was demanding 300 yuan in bride price. Her mother had been worrying sick over it.
With this money, forget 300 yuan for the bride price. There would even be more than enough left to buy a “three-turns-and-a-radio” set.
“That’s absolutely right, Sister-in-law!”
Li Wanqing looked at Zhao Chunhua with an exaggerated expression of admiration.
“Since Accountant Zhao is here today, and all the villagers are here too, why don’t we calculate everything properly right now? We can make sure Sister-in-law doesn’t lose out!”
The moment Cheng Anju heard this, he knew things were about to go badly.
He hurriedly interrupted, “There’s no need to trouble everyone. We can go home and sort everything out ourselves.”
“No trouble at all! No trouble!”
“Now that the busy farming season is over, we have plenty of time.”
“That’s right! We’d like to learn from Sister-in-law Cheng how she manages the household and saves so much money.”
They were all people from the same Renxing Brigade.
Why was it that they had worked hard their entire lives and barely had any savings, while the Cheng family had nearly 3,000 yuan?
Not only were the villagers curious, even the brigade officials were eager to know!
……
In the end, with everyone talking over one another, the matter was settled.
No matter how much Cheng Anju and Liu Yufen tried to persuade them otherwise, it was useless!